Sabrina Ratté

Objets-monde is interested in the traces that humans leave on the environment as well as the way in which these become an intrinsic part of our ecosystem. Abandoned objects, such as cars and computer screens, were captured with the help of photogrammetry to create a video collage composed of extracts from reality. Re-contextualized in disproportionately large proportions within landscapes seen from afar, these objects stand out like the ruins of monumental architecture. The absence of life as well as the luminous atmosphere of the work create a tension between apocalyptic feeling and nostalgia, between precious object and waste, between idealized nature and the indelible presence of human traces. These vestiges of the Anthropocene are deployed within an interactive installation in collaboration with Guillaume Arseneault, and a soundtrack composed by Roger Tellier-Craig. This is the single-channel version of the project.

Objets-monde is interested in the traces that humans leave on the environment as well as the way in which these become an intrinsic part of our ecosystem. Abandoned objects, such as cars and computer screens, were captured with the help of photogrammetry to create a video collage composed of extracts from reality. Re-contextualized in disproportionately large proportions within landscapes seen from afar, these objects stand out like the ruins of monumental architecture. The absence of life as well as the luminous atmosphere of the work create a tension between apocalyptic feeling and nostalgia, between precious object and waste, between idealized nature and the indelible presence of human traces. These vestiges of the Anthropocene are deployed within an interactive installation in collaboration with Guillaume Arseneault, and a soundtrack composed by Roger Tellier-Craig. This is the single-channel version of the project.

Contre-espace evokes horizons that transcend architecture to create contrast and tension between city walls and the poetic space they can inspire. The facade of the Museum's oldest pavilion becomes a canvas on which a landscape made of electronic and digital light is drawn. The image – or the mirage – takes shape on the wall, opening up the field of possibilities. It is the encounter between stone and light, between surface and depth, between the physical world and the virtual world.

Created with support from Canada Council For The Arts, Conseil Des Arts Et Des Lettres Du Québec & The Secretariat for Relations with English-speaking Quebecers

Inspired by the writings of Donna J. Haraway, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Greg Egan, the work plunges us into a speculative future, where samples of then extinct plant species are preserved and displayed in a virtual archive room. Through editing and visual strategies, this archive room is sporadically transformed under the effect of interference caused by the memory emanating from the listed plants, revealing traces of a past that continues to haunt the place. Floralia is a simulation of ecosystems born from the fusion of technology and organic matter, where past and future coexist in a perpetual tension of the present.

Inspired by the writings of Donna J. Haraway, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Greg Egan, the work plunges us into a speculative future, where samples of then extinct plant species are preserved and displayed in a virtual archive room. Through editing and visual strategies, this archive room is sporadically transformed under the effect of interference caused by the memory emanating from the listed plants, revealing traces of a past that continues to haunt the place. Floralia is a simulation of ecosystems born from the fusion of technology and organic matter, where past and future coexist in a perpetual tension of the present.

Inspired by the writings of Donna J. Haraway, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Greg Egan, the work plunges us into a speculative future, where samples of then extinct plant species are preserved and displayed in a virtual archive room. Through editing and visual strategies, this archive room is sporadically transformed under the effect of interference caused by the memory emanating from the listed plants, revealing traces of a past that continues to haunt the place. Floralia is a simulation of ecosystems born from the fusion of technology and organic matter, where past and future coexist in a perpetual tension of the present.

Inspired by the writings of Donna J. Haraway, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Greg Egan, the work plunges us into a speculative future, where samples of then extinct plant species are preserved and displayed in a virtual archive room. Through editing and visual strategies, this archive room is sporadically transformed under the effect of interference caused by the memory emanating from the listed plants, revealing traces of a past that continues to haunt the place. Floralia is a simulation of ecosystems born from the fusion of technology and organic matter, where past and future coexist in a perpetual tension of the present.

Part of a series from Sabrina Ratté

"Monades is a series of prints made with 3D scans of my own body, which became the raw material to be digitally sculpted, deconstructed and re-contextualized. Many inspirations have informed this project, such as the concept of the cyborg by Donna J. Haraway, Hans Bellmer's drawings, Greek Mythology as well as an underlying reflexion on self portrait and the place of the body in the digital world. Captive within the limitations of their own subjectivities, these cyborg/goddesses embody the concept of monade, where each individual is a fragmented mirror of a larger reality."

"Monades is a series of prints made with 3D scans of my own body, which became the raw material to be digitally sculpted, deconstructed and re-contextualized. Many inspirations have informed this project, such as the concept of the cyborg by Donna J. Haraway, Hans Bellmer's drawings, Greek Mythology as well as an underlying reflexion on self portrait and the place of the body in the digital world. Captive within the limitations of their own subjectivities, these cyborg/goddesses embody the concept of monade, where each individual is a fragmented mirror of a larger reality."

Part of a series from Sabrina Ratté

This large scale video installation is a nature morte where the camera slowly unveils different fleshy entities embedded with technology. Laying in this strange land, half cemetery half waste-yard, obsolete mutations have been abandoned to create this new ecosystem hanging between life and death. By their shapes, textures and context, each entity is loosely inspired by different films of Cronenberg, such as The Fly, Scanners, Videodrome, Dead Ringers, The Brood, Existenz and Crash. The title is a reference to his film Crimes of the Future. The installation is surrounded by 5 televisions, lighting the room with different videos made with synthesizers. Each pattern represents a manifestation of the body, such as brain signals, heartbeats, blood etc. While referencing Videodrome and the evolution of the electronic image, it also suggests the idea that the body is a form of technology in itself.

Aliquid is a single channel video where the electronic signal is manipulated digitally to materialize into synthetic flesh. Slowly landing onto a glass architecture, this undefined substance is torn apart by sharp edges and eventually disintegrates into particules that spread into the atmosphere.

A film by Sabrina Ratté

3D Animation by Sabrina Ratté

Inspired by the performative tradition that combines electronic sound and video art, Le Révélateur's live performance is the result of an intermedial dialogue between video artist Sabrina Ratté and electronic music composer Roger Tellier-Craig. Through the creation of abstract architectural structures and electronic landscapes, Ratté’s video images are in constant dialogue with the ethereal sounds and futuristic pulses generated by Tellier-Craig. Together, they aim to create an immersive audio-visual experience where sound and image are inseparable.

3D animation by Sabrina Ratté

3D animation by Sabrina Ratté

Machine for Living is a project elaborated in the context of a 9 month residency at Château Ephémère (Carrière-sous-Poissy, France). The video series investigates the architecture of the new towns (Villes nouvelles) and brutalist habitation buildings in the surroundings of Paris. Cities such as Noisy-le-Grand, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, Créteil, Grigny, Cergy-Pontoise, Nanterre and Ivry-sur-Seine were at the center of this research. Created using photographs, 3D animation and video synthesizer, Machine for living combines documentation and abstraction and straddles the line between utopia and dystopia.

3D animation by Sabrina Ratté

Machine for Living is a project elaborated in the context of a 9 month residency at Château Ephémère (Carrière-sous-Poissy, France). The video series investigates the architecture of the new towns (Villes nouvelles) and brutalist habitation buildings in the surroundings of Paris. Cities such as Noisy-le-Grand, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, Créteil, Grigny, Cergy-Pontoise, Nanterre and Ivry-sur-Seine were at the center of this research. Created using photographs, 3D animation and video synthesizer, Machine for living combines documentation and abstraction and straddles the line between utopia and dystopia.

Video Painting

Video Painting Series

Video Painting Series

Video Painting Series

Video Painting Series

Video Painting Series

Machine for Living is a project elaborated in the context of a 9 month residency at Château Ephémère (Carrière-sous-Poissy, France). The video series investigates the architecture of the new towns (Villes nouvelles) and brutalist habitation buildings in the surroundings of Paris. Cities such as Noisy-le-Grand, Montigny-le-Bretonneux, Créteil, Grigny, Cergy-Pontoise, Nanterre and Ivry-sur-Seine were at the center of my research.

Biomes is a series of 4 paintings in motion inspired by the the surrealist landscapes of Tanguy and Kay Sage. Digital and analog video techniques are used to simulate painterly effects in an interplay between soft, harsh, mat and shiny surfaces, different shades of light and the illusion of depth or flatness. Biomes are portraits of post human environments where uncanny life forms materialize and slowly detach themselves from the horizon, to finally melt into their respective landscapes.

Biomes is a series of 4 paintings in motion inspired by the the surrealist landscapes of Tanguy and Kay Sage. Digital and analog video techniques are used to simulate painterly effects in an interplay between soft, harsh, mat and shiny surfaces, different shades of light and the illusion of depth or flatness. Biomes are portraits of post human environments where uncanny life forms materialize and slowly detach themselves from the horizon, to finally melt into their respective landscapes.

Biomes is a series of 4 paintings in motion inspired by the the surrealist landscapes of Tanguy and Kay Sage. Digital and analog video techniques are used to simulate painterly effects in an interplay between soft, harsh, mat and shiny surfaces, different shades of light and the illusion of depth or flatness. Biomes are portraits of post human environments where uncanny life forms materialize and slowly detach themselves from the horizon, to finally melt into their respective landscapes.

Biomes is a series of 4 paintings in motion inspired by the the surrealist landscapes of Tanguy and Kay Sage. Digital and analog video techniques are used to simulate painterly effects in an interplay between soft, harsh, mat and shiny surfaces, different shades of light and the illusion of depth or flatness. Biomes are portraits of post human environments where uncanny life forms materialize and slowly detach themselves from the horizon, to finally melt into their respective landscapes.

Domestic Landscape depicts a space with an ambiguous identity. Existing between architecture and landscape, the piece is made using a mix of analog technologies and 3D animation techniques. The environment is conveying a sense of hypnose where the gaze wanders inside this vibrating architecture.

Immeuble-Villas is an ongoing series of abstract interior spaces where electronic textures and architectural elements are subtly animated. The series references Le Corbusier’s standardization of apartment buildings. Each video loop is meant to be displayed as tableaux on individual screens.

Immeuble-Villas is an ongoing series of abstract interior spaces where electronic textures and architectural elements are subtly animated. The series references Le Corbusier’s standardization of apartment buildings. Each video loop is meant to be displayed as tableaux on individual screens.

Immeuble-Villas is an ongoing series of abstract interior spaces where electronic textures and architectural elements are subtly animated. The series references Le Corbusier’s standardization of apartment buildings. Each video loop is meant to be displayed as tableaux on individual screens.

Immeuble-Villas is an ongoing series of abstract interior spaces where electronic textures and architectural elements are subtly animated. The series references Le Corbusier’s standardization of apartment buildings. Each video loop is meant to be displayed as tableaux on individual screens.

Immeuble-Villas is an ongoing series of abstract interior spaces where electronic textures and architectural elements are subtly animated. The series references Le Corbusier’s standardization of apartment buildings. Each video loop is meant to be displayed as tableaux on individual screens.

Immeuble-Villas is an ongoing series of abstract interior spaces where electronic textures and architectural elements are subtly animated. The series references Le Corbusier’s standardization of apartment buildings. Each video loop is meant to be displayed as tableaux on individual screens.

Video Intstallation

2016 Short Film by Sabrina Ratté

Aires is a contemplative visit inside a structure which straddles the line between a sanctuary and a corporate space. It is a place that seems to have no purpose and which leads to nowhere. A presence is felt, but never seen. The house itself is alive; the walls are vibrating, the windows reflect abstract landscapes, the textures are constantly shifting. Created by mixing video synthesizers and 3D animation, this piece is a collage of different rooms slowly scrolling from right to left. The seamless juxtaposition of these interiors generates the illusion of a cohesive space while creating impossible perspectives.

Mixing analog and digital technologies, ‘Plaza Concrète’ is a series of hallways generated by electronic signals. Unfolding inside melting architectures, the space depicted is reminiscent of the malleable nature of the video image and manifests the tension between matter and electricity through constant shifts of perspectives.

Commissioned by the Toronto Animated Image Society

Video loop created for The Wrong, Digital Biennale.

Escales is the result of the manipulation of electronic signals using digital means. Electricity, as raw material, is being sculpted, transformed and altered to be reborn as architecture. Inspired by hotel lobbies, the video recreates the ambiance of these aesthetically rigorous spaces which, despite their aim at being inviting, are in fact impersonal and cold.

Like much of Sabrina Ratté’s video work, this collection for Undervolt & Co. explores the visual and sonic relationship between modular synthesis and simulated space. In all three pieces – Littoral Zones, Landfall, and Habitat – Ratté uses her signature modulator technique to intricately layer a series of moirés and checkerboards that bring depth to the otherwise flat surface of the video screen. Where others create depth through recording or simulating hallways and tunnels, Ratté bends the signal of the video itself to carve out corridors of an undetermined distance.

"It’s not until we arrive at Habitat does the wandering eye of Ratté’s interlocuteur find respite in a cascading curved form soaked in the color of a pale sunset. The revelation of this habitat creates a visual serenity rarely found within the quivering feedback lines previously employed in Ratté’s work. The simplicity and exactness of the vertical lines that dance across the screen in Habitat suggest a kind of transcendental arrival at a near-perfect modular frequency where the input and output harmonize. These lines are pulled back like stage curtains to expose once more the gleaming horizon, this time delicately tinged with a rainbow spectrum created from gamma ramped signal saturation." - Nicholas O'Brien

"In Landfall, viewers are surrounded by a purple-hued jaunt across the hills and valleys of synthesized countryside. Moments of geometric clarity flicker into view, showing the façade of a building or the corner of an imagined site. However, as these features and forms come into view, their rearrangements and reconfigurations reinforce an ambivalent feeling toward their construction and usefulness. As the upper half of the video becomes occupied by a ceiling of stripped stalactites, the glimmers of architecture become more pronounced, playing off the features of the space that has formed around us. " - Nicholas O'Brien

"Littoral Zones peaks around the corner of an entryway – looking out over the threshold and seeing a world of crystalline light anticipating our departure. But the room spins with our uncertainty to exit, and with each turn the light in the doorway becomes all the more enticing. The marvelousness of the light compels us to keep turning, but when the video settles on departure we find ourselves confronted with a multitude of paths, each more complex and inviting than the last." - Nicholas O'Brien

animation by Sabrina Ratté

Visites Possibles explores the possibilities of creating 3D environments based on video images generated by electronic signals. Inspired by architectural renderings and the idea of virtual tour, the video invites the viewer to visit its structure through specific parameters. Throughout the visit, "entities" arise and disappear regularly as if haunting this virtual environment. Visites Possibles also acts as a transitory space where multiple doors open on potential virtual experiences.

The work of this quartet (comprised of Birch Cooper, Brenna Murphy, Sabrina Ratté, and Roger Tellier-Craig) shifts visually and aurally between the analog and the digital. Equally influenced by psychedelia and analog synthesized feedback, these videos undulate, shimmer, and pulse with an electric current surging from a hyper-conductive wire plugged into a supernatural outlet. At times the content of these videos appear as analytical devices for complex, cerebral data sets. In other moments, these videos become cascading diagrams of serene and blissful states of otherworldliness. Playfully gliding back and forth between different outputs and inputs, this group of videos shows a willingness amongst the collaborators to bring together the all-too-often divide between these unique technological spaces. In doing so, this collection provides entry into a new world where the digital and the analog coalesce and fuse, creating a newborn child of saturated splendor.

Traveling on an undefined territory where the illusion of a continuous tracking shot emphasizes an unreachable destination. Through the syncopated editing and multiple transitions, images of the area themselves become traveling entities, creating confusion on the level of the depicted space as much as with the level of its temporality.

Longueurs d’ondes is an exploration of the interactions between the electronic signal and the human body. This video was commissioned by The Conseil québécois des arts médiatiques in the occasion of the 50 years of video art.

Short video inspired by "The Zone" from Tarkovsky's film "Stalker" and from the Strugatsky's Brothers book "Roadside Picnic". This video is part of the project "Special effects"commissioned by Cartune Xprez.

A special commission for the POP Montreal 2012 Auroratone Project.

AURAE was part of Phillips + Tumblr present Paddles ON! The First Digital Art Auction at Phillips, curated by Lindsay Howard.

Digital images processed through the LZX video synthesizer

animation by Sabrina Ratté

Video feedback, AZDEN VPC-10, LZX video synthesizer

Video feedback, AZDEN VPC-10, LZX video synthesizer

Video feedback // AZDEN VPC-10

Video feedback experiment, also known as Melting Signals I. AZDEN VPC-10, 1 min, sound.

Activated Memory is a journey through a serene landscape where the trees and fields are at once surreal and familiar.Through the use of video feedback, 3d animation and color manipulations, the pictures render a new kind of space, a virtual world where only fragments of "reality" subsist.

Activated Memory is a journey through a serene landscape where the trees and fields are at once surreal and familiar.Through the use of video feedback, 3d animation and color manipulations, the pictures render a new kind of space, a virtual world where only fragments of "reality" subsist.

Music video for "Innergaze."

animation by Sabrina Ratté

Early work by Sabrina Ratté

Images of the Almalfi Coast have been transformed by video feedback. The rigid transitions, inspired by early computer art, contrast with the aleatory movements of the electronic light.

An illuminated map of Paris became a landscape through various image tranformations.

The double reality, that of shadows and that of objects, which manifests itself in time, light and space.

A poetic exploration, through digital manipulation, of the limits of simple images such as water and the moon.

A poetic exploration, through digital manipulation, of the limits of simple images such as water and the moon.

Working, as in other films, with relatively simple materials and a contemplative stance, Ratté begins by exploring the flickering movement of light and its distortion as it is translated into the digital realm, using chromatic excess as a means to corrupt her sources' integrity. These somewhat inform images of natural events slowly morph into geometric grids with which moving human silhouettes are later juxtaposed before we are finally sent back to the abstract shapes that opened the film, now harmonised with these colour-looms and figurative forms.